Blake Griffin

  • Birthday: 05. March 1989
  • Birthplace: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Biography

Blake Austin Griffin (born March 16, 1989) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Griffin had a renowned high school career at Oklahoma Christian School, winning state titles each of his four years under his father, head coach Tommy Griffin. He then playedcollege basketball for the University of Oklahoma where he was named the Consensus National Player of the Year his sophomore season.[1]

Griffin left college after two seasons to enter the 2009 NBA Draft; he was selected first overall by the Clippers. In his first season, he broke his left kneecap during the final pre-season game, had surgery, and missed the entire 2009–10 season. Griffin made his NBA debut as a rookie the following season, in which he was selected as an All-Star, won the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year. In 2011, Sports Illustrated called him one of the NBA's 15 Greatest Rookies of All Time.[2] Griffin's been an All-Star every season he has played and has helped make the Clippers perennial playoff contenders.

Childhood

Griffin was born on March 16, 1989, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Tommy, who is of Afro-Haitian descent, and Gail Griffin, who is Caucasian.[3][4][5] His father was a basketball center and track standout at NAIA Northwestern Oklahoma State University.[6] Blake and his older brother, Taylor Griffin, werehome-schooled by their mother from first grade until Taylor was in the tenth grade and Blake was in eighth.[7][8][9][10][11] Growing up, Blake was good friends with Sam Bradford, who currently plays for the St. Louis Rams and played on the same Athletes First AAU basketball team with Xavier Henry, now with the Los Angeles Lakers.[10][12] Bradford’s father owned a gym where Blake and Taylor played basketball.[13] Before deciding to focus on basketball, Blake also played baseball as a first baseman and football as a wide receiver, safety, and tight end.[

High school

In 2003, Blake followed Taylor to Oklahoma Christian School, where they played under their father, head coach Tommy Griffin. They played together during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 high school seasons, winning two state basketball championships.[7] In his freshmen year, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a perfect 29–0 season and won the Class 3A boys state championship game at the State Fair Arena against Riverside Indian School, 55–50.[15]

In Blake's sophomore year, the Saints repeated as Class 3A state champions, defeating Sequoyah-Tahlequah 51–34, where he scored 12 points and 9 rebounds.[16] The team finished the season with a 24–2 record,[17] with Griffin averaging 13.6 points per game. He was later named to the Little All-City All-State team in what was his final high school season with his brother.[18]

Taylor went on to accept a scholarship to play college basketball for the University of Oklahoma Sooners. During the summer of 2005, Blake was a member of the Athletes First AAU team, where he played against Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson's AAU team, the DC Blue Devils.[19][20]

During Blake's junior season, the Oklahoma Christian basketball team was moved down to Class 2A from Class 3A.[21] As he began his third season with the Saints, he was quickly developing into a strong and athletic player,[22] as he led them to a third straight state championship. He scored 22 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and recorded 6 blocks in the finals as Oklahoma Christian defeated Washington High School, 57–40.[23] He was named the state tournament MVP,[24] and the Saints finished the season 27–1, with Griffin averaging 21.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists. For his efforts, he was named The Oklahoman Player of the Year and to the Tulsa World Boys All-State First Team.[25]His play attracted the attention of the new basketball head coach for Oklahoma, Jeff Capel, who first heard of him through his brother, Taylor.[6] That spring, Capel saw him play for the first time and was impressed with his combination of size, strength and athleticism.[6] Capel liked the fact that Griffin had not yet become a household name among recruiters and felt Blake was exactly the player he needed to rebuild the Oklahoma men's basketball program with.[6] He had been considering Duke, Kansas, North Carolina andTexas,[6] but his brother eventually sold him on joining Oklahoma when he raved about the direction of the Sooners and the chance to play together again for his home state.[26]

Griffin committed to Oklahoma before the start of his senior season.[26] He went on to average 26.8 points, 15.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.9 blocks per game as a senior while leading the team to a 26–3 record.[5] In a game against Oklahoma City Southeast, he finished with an eye-popping triple-double, 41 points, 28 rebounds, and 10 assists.[27] The Saints advanced through the playoffs, defeating Crescent in the quarterfinals and Foyil in the semifinals to earn a berth in the Class 2A state championship once again.[28] On March 10, 2007, he played his final high school game in the state title game against Pawnee High School.[18] He registered 22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, as the Saints defeated Pawnee 81–50, winning their fourth straight state title.[7] He was named the Class 2A state tournament MVP for the second consecutive year after averaging 26.6 points per game in the tournament.[5] During his four-year run, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a 106–6 overall record.[29]

 

Following Griffin's senior year, he was named the Player of the Year by both the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman. He was also named to the Oklahoma Boys All-State First Team, EA Sports All-American Second Team and Parade Third Team All-American.[27][30] Additionally, he was the Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year and was selected to the McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand All-America teams.[31][32] At the McDonald's All-American game in Louisville, Kentucky he won the Powerade Jam Fest slam dunkcontest.[33] He was ranked as the nation's 13th best high school senior by HoopScoop, 20th by scout.com and 23rd by rivals.com.[34] HoopScoop also rated him as the country's third-best power forward, while Rivals.com ranked him sixth and was seventh in Scout.com's rankings.

Griffin was one of the highest rated and most decorated recruits ever at Oklahoma.[5] As a freshman at Oklahoma, he averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds in 28.4 minutes per game and led the Sooners to a 23–12 record.[35] He ranked ninth in scoring, fourth in rebounding and third in field goal percentage in the Big 12 Conference.[5] In a game against the Kansas Jayhawks, he suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee five minutes into the Sooners game.[36] Less than two months after injuring his left knee, he injured his right knee in a home victory against Texas A&M.[37] The injury this time was torn cartilage, and he had arthroscopic surgery on March 2, 2008.[37] He missed the following game, a victory over in-state rival Oklahoma State Cowboys,[38] but was back on the court a week after the injury with 14 points and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes versus theMissouri Tigers, a win for the Sooners on their home floor.[35] He was a first-team all-district pick by the USBWA and NABC, and was named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team and to the first-team All-Big 12 selection by league coaches and Associated Press.[5] He became the first Sooner to make the conference All-Rookie team since Wayman Tisdale in 1983 for the Big Eight Conference.[39] He was expected to be a lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft but decided to return to college for a second season to give himself time to mature physically and make Oklahoma a contender for the NCAA championship.[8]

In his sophomore season, the Sooners started out the season winning their first 12 games before falling to the Arkansas Razorbacks.[40] In the third game of the season, against the Davidson Wildcats, he scored 25 points and grabbed 21 rebounds.[41] The very next game he had 35 points and 21 rebounds against Gardner–Webb,[42] becoming the first player in Big 12 history to record back-to-back games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds.[5] This earned him three consecutive Big 12 player of the week honors and finished the season with a record-tying six player of the week honors.[5] In a home victory against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, he set career bests for both points and rebounds with 40 points and 23 rebounds,[35] becoming the only player in Big 12 history and the third player in the history of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball program to score 40 points and get 20 rebounds in the same game, joining Wayman Tisdale (61 points and 22 rebounds in 1983) and Alvan Adams (43 points and 25 rebounds in 1975).

On February 21, he received a concussion in a loss to the Texas Longhorns, when he caught an inadvertent shot to the face from the open hand of Texas center Dexter Pittman.[45] He sat out the second half during the Sooners loss with a bloody nose.[45] It was the Sooners' first loss of their conference schedule for the season.[46] After sitting out the next game, a loss to Kansas Jayhawks, he was cleared by the medical staff and returned a week later to get 20 points and 19 rebounds in a victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.[47] Oklahoma finished second in the conference with a 13–3 record but fell short in the first game of the Big 12 Tournament to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.[48] In the "Big Dance", Oklahoma was seeded No. 2 in the South Region with a 27–5 record.[49] In the second-round win over the Michigan Wolverines, he scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds,[50] just the second player in the 2000s (decade) with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in the NCAA tournament.[51] The Sooners ended up losing to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the South Regional final.[52]

Griffin averaged 22.7 points, 14.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during the regular season and earned All-American First Team honors.[53] He led the Big 12 in scoring and rebounds, and recorded at least 20 points and 15 rebounds 15 times, which is a Big 12 record.[5] He also set school and Big 12 single-season records for most rebounds (504), rebounding average (14.4), and double-doubles (30), and his free throw attempts (324) were the most by a Sooner in a single-season.[54][55] With 30 double-doubles during the season, he was one short of the NCAA record of 31 set by David Robinson in 1986–1987.[56] His total of 504 rebounds were the most in a season by an NCAA Division I player since Indiana State's Larry Bird had 505 in 1978–79 and his rebounding average of 14.4 was the highest since Wake Forest's Tim Duncan averaged 14.7 in 1996–97.[5][57]

For his sophomore year performance, Griffin swept all six of the national player of the year awards. He was a unanimous choice by voters in all nine geographical districts for theOscar Robertson Trophy and was named Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, receiving 66 of the 71 national media panel members' votes.[58][59] Griffin was announced as the winner of the prestigious Naismith College Player of the Year on April 5 in Detroit.[60] Three days after announcing that he would turn pro, he won the John Wooden Award as college basketball's top player.[1] He became the first Oklahoma player in school history to win the Naismith Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Adolph Rupp Trophy, John Wooden Award and the Associated Press player of the year.[1][59] He was also named Player of the Year by the Big 12, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News

College statistics

CollegeYearGPGSMINPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%FT%3P%
Oklahoma 2007–08 33 33 28.4 14.7 9.1 1.8 1.0 .85 .568 .589 .0
Oklahoma 2008–09 35 35 33.3 22.7 14.4 2.3 1.1 1.2 .646 .590 .375
Career   68 68 31.4 18.8 11.8 2.1 1.0 1.05 .618 .589 .300

Los Angeles Clippers (2009–present)

2009–10 season: Draft year injury

On April 7, 2009, Griffin announced that he would give up his final two years of eligibility and declared for the NBA Draft after his sophomore year.[61][62] A press conference announcing his decision was aired nationally on ESPNews. He was selected as the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009 NBA Draft.[63] Griffin played for the Clippers' Summer League Team and was named Summer League MVP. In their final preseason game, he injured his kneecap as he landed after a dunk.[64] The day before the2009–10 season started it was confirmed that Griffin had a stress fracture in his left knee, delaying his NBA debut for seven weeks.[64] After resting the stress fracture for several weeks, tests revealed that his knee was not recovering properly.[65] In January 2010, Griffin had surgery on his broken left kneecap causing him to miss the remainder of the 2009–10 season.

Since he missed the entire 2009–10 season, Griffin was still considered a rookie during the 2010–11 season.[66] In his NBA debut, against the Portland Trail Blazers, Griffin registered 20 points and 14 rebounds.[67] He set a franchise record for most consecutive double-doubles with 23 in a home game against the Golden State Warriors.[68] His streak of consecutive double-doubles, which ended at 27 games on January 19 in a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, was the longest rookie double-double streak since 1968.[2][69] On November 11, 2010 Blake scored a then career-high 44 points against the New York Knicks and on January 17, 2011 against the Indiana Pacers, he scored a new career-high and set a Clippers franchise record for most points by a rookie with 47 points while also grabbing 14 rebounds.[70] He became the first rookie to have two 40+ games in his rookie season since Allen Iverson during the 1996–97 season.

Griffin was voted to the 2011 NBA All-Star Game by coaches as a reserve on the Western Conference squad, becoming the first rookie to play in the All-Star game since Yao Ming in 2003 and the first rookie voted to the game by coaches since Tim Duncan in 1998.[71][72] He also participated in the 2011 Rookie Challenge and won the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star break.[73][74] On March 23, 2011, in a double overtime win over the Washington Wizards, Griffin recorded his first career triple-double, 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists.[75]He recorded his second triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in the final game of the season against the Memphis Grizzlies.

During the season, he captured all six of the Western Conference T-Mobile Rookie of the Month honors, the first time a rookie has swept an entire season of Rookie of the Month awards since Chris Paul during the 2005–06 season.[77] He played in all 82 regular season games and became the first rookie to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds since Elton Brand did it in the 1999–2000 season.[78] He led all rookies in points, rebounds, and double-doubles, earning him the Rookie of the Year award, and was the first unanimous winner for the award since David Robinson in 1990.[79][80] He was also the only unanimous selection to the All-Rookie First Team.[81] Following his phenomenal rookie season, Sports Illustrated listed him as one of the "NBA's 15 Greatest Rookies of All Time". In October 2011, in ESPN's annual pre-season player rankings, Griffin was rated the 10th best player in the NBA by ESPN and the collective TrueHoop Network.[82]

2011–12 season: First playoff appearance

Griffin was voted to play as a starter for the first time in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game along with new teammate Chris Paul. He was also selected to participate in the inauguralRising Stars Challenge in which the teams were a mix of rookies and sophomores. Griffin was selected as the #1 pick for Team Shaq.[83] Blake averaged another double-double on the season with 20.7 ppg and 10.9 rpg.

He and teammate Chris Paul helped lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 40-26 record and made the playoffs for the first time since 2006. In the first round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, Griffin helped the Clippers eliminate the Memphis Grizzlies in seven games, however, the Los Angeles Clippers were quickly swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the next round. Afterwards, Griffin was named to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career.

2012–13 season: First division title

Before the 2012–13 NBA season, on July 10, 2012, Griffin signed a contract extension reportedly worth $95 million for 5 years. The deal will keep him under contract until the end of 2017–18 season.[84] He was also selected to compete for Team USA in the 2012 London Summer Olympics, but was removed after he injured his knee during a practice. Griffin was again voted by the fans as a starter for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game. On March 6, 2013, Griffin recorded his third career triple-double by scoring 23 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Griffin finished the season averaging 18.0 ppg and 8.3 rpg in 32.5 mpg. He and Chris Paul lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 56-26 record as the Clippers won their first Pacific Division title in franchise history. The Clippers went on to lose to the Memphis Grizzlies in six games in the first round. Griffin was named to the All-NBA Second Team once again.

2013–14 season: New head coach Doc Rivers

After a disappointing first round exit in the playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers sought new leadership and hired head coach Doc Rivers. In his first season with Rivers at the helm, Griffin averaged a career-high 24.1 points per game. He was voted as a starter in the NBA All-Star Game, making it his fourth consecutive All-Star appearance and third consecutive start. From January 20 to March 26, Griffin recorded 20+ points in a franchise-record 31 straight games. On April 2, 2014, Griffin and Chris Paul led the Los Angeles Clippers to a 112-108 win over the Phoenix Suns to clinch their second franchise division title. The next day, Griffin recorded his fourth career triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 107-113 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.[85]

The Los Angeles Clippers finished with a 57-25 record and earned the third seed in the Western Conference. They would be matched up with the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. On April 21, 2014, Griffin scored a playoff career-high 35 points in a win over Golden State. The Clippers would eventually beat the Warriors in 7 games in the midst of the Donald Sterling controversy. They would then lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference semi-finals. Griffin was named to the All-NBA Second Team for the third straight year.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2010–11 L.A. Clippers 82 82 38.0 .506 .292 .642 12.1 3.8 .8 .5 22.5
2011–12 L.A. Clippers 66 66 36.3 .549 .125 .521 10.9 3.2 .8 .7 20.7
2012–13 L.A. Clippers 80 80 32.5 .538 .179 .660 8.3 3.7 1.2 .6 18.0
2013–14 L.A. Clippers 80 80 36.1 .528 .273 .715 9.5 3.9 1.2 .6 24.1
Career 308 308 35.6 .528 .232 .642 10.1 3.7 1.0 .6 21.4
All-Star 4 3 26.3 .788 .250 .500 5.5 3.0 1.5 .3 21.8

Playoffs

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2012 L.A. Clippers 11 11 35.7 .500 .000 .636 6.9 2.5 1.8 .9 19.1
2013 L.A. Clippers 6 5 26.3 .453 .000 .808 5.5 2.5 .0 .8 13.2
2014 L.A. Clippers 13 13 36.8 .498 .125 .740 7.5 3.8 1.2 1.1 23.5
Career 30 29 34.3 .493 .111 .713 6.9 3.0 1.2 1.0 19.8

Regular season career highs

StatHighOpponentDate
Points 47 vs. Indiana January 17, 2011
Offensive rebounds 9 vs. Portland October 27, 2010
Defensive rebounds 16 vs. Detroit November 12, 2010
Total rebounds 20 vs. San Antonio February 18, 2012
Assists 11 vs. Milwaukee Bucks March 6, 2013

Playoff career highs

StatHighOpponentDate
Points 35 vs. Golden State April 21, 2014
Offensive rebounds 6 vs. Oklahoma City May 9, 2014
Defensive rebounds 14 vs. Oklahoma City May 13, 2014
Total rebounds 17 vs. Oklahoma City May 13, 2014
Assists 8 vs. Oklahoma City May 15, 2014

Triple-doubles

NumberDateOpponentBox ScorePointsReboundsAssistsStealsBlocks
1 March 23, 2011 vs. Washington Wizards W 127–119 33 17 10 1 1
2 April 13, 2011 vs. Memphis Grizzlies W 113-110 31 10 10 1 1
3 March 6, 2013 vs. Milwaukee Bucks W 117-101 23 11 11 1 1
4 April 3, 2014 vs. Dallas Mavericks L 107-113 25 10 11 1 1

Awards and honors

NBA

  • NBA All-Star: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
  • All-NBA Second Team: 2012, 2013, 2014
  • NBA Rookie of the Year: 2011
  • NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2011
  • NBA Slam Dunk Champion: 2011
  • Western Conference Player of the Month: March 2014
  • Western Conference Rookie of the Month: November 2010,[89] December 2010,[90] January 2011,[91] February 2011,[92] March 2011,[93] April 2011[94]

College

  • 2009 Naismith College Player of the Year
  • 2009 NABC Player of the Year
  • 2009 AP National Player of the Year
  • 2009 AP All-American First Team[95]
  • 2009 John Wooden Award
  • 2009 Adolph Rupp Trophy[96]
  • 2009 Oscar Robertson Trophy[97]
  • 2009 Sports Illustrated Player of the Year[98]
  • 2009 Sporting News Player of the Year[99]
  • Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards[100]
    • 2009 Big 12 Player of the Year[101]
    • 2009 All-Big 12 First Team[100]
    • 2008 All-Big 12 First Team
    • 2008 Big 12 All-Rookie Team

High school

  • Class 2A State Championship: 2006, 2007[5]
  • Class 2A Tournament MVP: 2006, 2007[5]
  • Class 3A State Championship: 2004, 2005
  • 2007 McDonald's All-American
  • 2007 McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk Champion
  • 2007 EA Sports All-American Second Team[102]
  • 2007 Parade All-American Third Team[30]
  • 2007 Tulsa World Player of the Year
  • The Oklahoman Player of the Year: 2006, 2007
  • 2007 Oklahoma Boys All-State First Team
  • 2006 Tulsa World Boys All-State First Team
  • 2005 Little All-City All-State Team

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